As used herein, the terms “mobile station” (“MS”), “user agent” (“UA”), and “user equipment” (“UE”) might in some cases refer to mobile devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, handheld or laptop computers, and similar devices that have telecommunications capabilities. Such a MS might consist of a MS and its associated removable memory module, such as but not limited to a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that includes a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) application, a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) application, or a Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM) application. As used herein, the term “SIM” may also refer to “USIM” and the term “USIM” may also refer to “SIM.” Alternatively, such a MS might consist of the device itself without such a module. In other cases, the term “MS” might refer to devices that have similar capabilities but that are not transportable, such as desktop computers, set-top boxes, or network appliances. The term “MS” can also refer to any hardware or software component that can terminate a communication session for a user. Also, the terms “MS,” “UE,” “user agent” (“UA”), “user device” and “user node” might be used synonymously herein.
As telecommunications technology has evolved, more advanced network access equipment has been introduced that can provide services that were not possible previously. This network access equipment might include systems and devices that are improvements of the equivalent equipment in a traditional wireless telecommunications system. Such advanced or next generation equipment may be included in evolving wireless communications standards, such as long-term evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A). For example, LTE or LTE-A systems might include an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) node B (eNB), a wireless access point, or a similar component rather than a traditional base station.
As used herein, the term “access node” will refer to any component of the wireless network, such as a traditional base station, a wireless access point, or an LTE or LTE-A eNB, that creates a geographical area of reception and transmission coverage allowing a MS or a relay node to access other components in a telecommunications system. In this document, the term “access node” may comprise a plurality of hardware and software. An access node, core network component, or other device, may provide wireless communications resources in an area known as a cell.
An LTE or LTE-A system can include protocols such as a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol, which is responsible for the assignment, configuration, and release of radio resources between a MS and an access node or relay node or other LTE equipment. The RRC protocol is described in detail in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 36.331.
The signals that carry data between MSs, relay nodes, and access nodes can have frequency, time, and coding parameters and other characteristics that might be specified by a network node. A connection between any of these elements that has a specific set of such characteristics can be referred to as a resource. The terms “resource,” “communications connection,” “channel,” and “communications link” might be used synonymously herein. A network node typically establishes a different resource for each MS or other network node with which it is communicating at any particular time.
The term “access node” may not refer to a “relay node,” which is a component in a wireless network that is configured to extend or enhance the coverage created by an access node or another relay node. The access node and relay node are both radio components that may be present in a wireless communications network, and the terms “component” and “network node” may refer to an access node or relay node. A component might operate as an access node or a relay node depending on its configuration and placement. However, a component is called a “relay node” only if it requires the wireless coverage of an access node or other relay node to access other components in a wireless communications system. Additionally, two or more relay nodes may used serially to extend or enhance coverage created by an access node.